being strong & steady stewards

We celebrated agriculturalists month in July, highlighting the central role of agriculture in many aspects and sectors of our daily lives. 

The workers, producers and stewards are also the current custodians of not just agriculture but also the environment and our biodiversity. Along with the ecosystem and sustainability, all are closely linked and entwined. 

For centuries, humanity has benefitted from Earth’s rich bounty of natural resources. But these last few decades also make us aware of the ensuing global impact the human footprint makes. Climate change, biodiversity loss, disrupted ecosystems, land degradation, and public health emergencies, including novel pandemics. 

After years of a largely slow and sleepy lifestyle in the Negros Island Region - we now massive push and movement - lots of expansion, growth and change. As with everything, there are many parts and facets that require consideration - from all the stakeholders affected in our communities. 

It happened when the Spanish first landed on our shores. Then again when the sugar industry was introduced into our island's tropical rainforest. Logging cleared the land and much of our endemic plants and wildlife were endangered and made extinct. 

In the upheaval and chaos, it feels at times as though we are being inundated by too much. Dengue and typhoid outbreaks. Recurring swine and bird flu surges. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Typhoons and flooding. Their occurrence has been escalating in continuing cycles. 

sugarcane fields & Mount Kanlaon, Negros Island

Prolonged ignorance and exploitation have resulted in huge economic loss, reduced nature benefits, less of natural beauty, and greater risk to people’s health and well-being. 

Despite this awareness, the global community has often overlooked scientific guidance and undervalued the importance of nature - in their need to expand and progress. It is up to the people to ensure policy formulation and decision-making processes align with sustainable, safe, and resilient resource allocation mechanisms. 

It is critical for policy makers to recognize the natural environment and ecosystems as valuable cultural and capital assets, alongside physical, human, social, and intellectual capital. Did you know that in other parts of the world nature and its elements have been awarded rights just as humans have? 

Most folks though still think of agriculture as only crop farming: soil and land preparation - sowing, fertilizing, irrigating, and harvesting different types of plants and vegetation. 

Crop farming is just one aspect of the Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting sector. Agriculture also encompasses raising livestock; industrial forestry and fishing; and agricultural support services, such as agricultural equipment repair and trucking operations.

carabao hauling cut sugarcane

In our #BAO article last month we featured the local beloved carabao - the domestic water buffalo, independent if not free. Never wholly dependent on the local farmer for survival, while Filipino farmers then relied heavily on groups of carabaos to prepare and cultivate the fields they tilled. 

Why is agriculture important? It helps sustain life by providing the food we need to survive. It is also a major contributor in the Philippine economy. Despite agriculture’s importance, data and reports show that farm workers are among the lowest paid in the country.

Agriculture is the practice of cultivating natural resources to sustain human life and provide economic gain. It combines the creativity, imagination, and skill involved in planting crops and raising animals with modern production methods and new technologies. 

It is also a business that provides the global economy with commodities: basic goods used in commerce, such as grain, livestock, dairy, fiber, and raw materials for fuel, clothing, and other necessities. 

History has tracked the origins of humanity and civilizations to the development of agriculture in different parts of the world. 

white sand beach & secluded cove

When wild stands that had previously been harvested started to be planted and gradually came to be domesticated, along with livestock - communities grew and prospered. Traveling troops and conquering hordes led to more exchange, transformation and diffusion of food around the globe. 

Agriculture evolved from nomadic to pastoral farming in search of pasture, fodder and water. Forests and growth were cleared for more land in shifting cultivation. This is a type of farming practiced mainly in areas with abundant rainfall where the forest regenerates quickly. 

Subsistence farming is practiced to satisfy family or local needs alone, with little left over for transport elsewhere. This comprise about sixty percent of the world's arable land around tropical Southeast Asia, where the Philippines is located. 

Intensive farming is cultivation to maximize productivity, with a low fallow ratio and a high use of sources (water, fertilizer, pesticide and automation). It is practiced mainly in developed countries on a vast scale. 

Agriculture has been associated with the production of essential food crops. At present, agriculture above and beyond farming includes forestry, dairy, fruit cultivation, poultry, beekeeping, mushroom, arbitrary, etc. All are acknowledged as part of current agriculture. 

volcanic rich island of Negros

Agriculture could be referred to as the production, processing, promotion, and distribution of agricultural products. Agriculture plays a critical role in the entire life of a given economy. 

Yet urban sprawl and human gentrification are building more cities for a exploding population. Spreading and encroaching more and more into nature and rural places - affecting local wild and plant life that put it all at risk and nudge closer to a tipping point. 

How then do we reconcile agriculture and industry that have relied on natural resources beyond sustainable and safe limits? We are better off than the rest of the Philippines on our island - home to healthy and thriving organic farming, fishing and growing practices. 

More recently slow food has found a home base here. With community projects like earth markets, food mapping, Arc of Taste, production coalitions, and service alliances. It has become a leading beacon in the Asia and Pacific region for providing good, fair and clean food, directly from farms to our tables. 

Agriculture is the backbone of the economic system of any given country - we need to be more aware of its contribution and value. In addition to providing food and raw material, agriculture also provides employment opportunities to a large percentage of the population. 

field of freshly tilled rows

Agriculture can provide opportunities for economic equity and help people prosper around the world. For example, since 2000, the agricultural growth rate in Sub-Saharan Africa has surpassed that of any other region in the world (approximately 4.3% annually), contributing to the region’s economic gains, according to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). 

While there’s been a global decline in agricultural jobs - from one billion in 2000 to 883 million in 2019, according to employment indicators from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - agriculture remains the second-highest source of employment (26.7% of total work). 

The Philippines needs stronger support and sustained assistance for the county's leadership and government agencies. Instead of being tied to a political agenda, we need to work with lawmakers for the good of the land and the people. Instead of treating our agriculturists like mendicants begging for crumbs, we should all be regular consumers and tireless advocates for them. 

We have an old saying over here - in our lifetime we may need a doctor a few times, but we all need a farmer to feed us every day. Let us build better awareness and support for our farmers and their heroic effort.